Oil-burning furnace



July 26, 1927. F. G. NEAL OIL BURNING FURNACE Filed June 5, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 &

BY +WWF A TORNEYS July "26, 1927.

F.- GWNEAL OIL BURNING FURNACE Filed June 5, 1924 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS til]:

Patented July 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN G. NEAL, OF SPRINGFIELD, 'M.ASSACHUSETTS,, ASSIGNOR TU GILBERT & BARKER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS,

A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

OIL-BURNING IFURNAUE.

Application filed June a, 1924. Serial No; 71?,t'i46.

this invention relates to improved means for controlling the operation of a power operated oil burning furnace, particularly for household use or where it is not convenient to have an operators attention to adjust the furnace accessories under desired conditions.

It is old to operate the burner in various ways by the power from an electric motor, which either supplies both air-and oil or only one of the combustible materials to the flame desired. Such an arrangement is shown in the Nelch Patent No. 1,183,786, dated May 16, 1916. It may frequently happen that the current to the motor will fail at a time when the furnace should be in fullto the point of automatically shifting from the usual to the emergency source of power and haclr again, as the usual source of power is rendered first unavailable and then avail-' able.

ft is customary to prevent further operation of the power means whenever the furnace goes out and the burner floods with oil, according. to the overflow bucket switch. operated means as in said llfelch patent. l avail myself of the movement of said bucl tet switch operatedmeans to prevent the operation of both the usual and emergency power means in my device under the same conditions.

lit is also customary to control the feed of the combustible units to an oil burning furnace according to thermostatic connection, preferably with the "place to be heated and the furnace, so that the furnace will generate more or less heat accordingly as it is needed at the point of use just as in coal burning furnaces. Because of this fact, and as a convenient means of fitting both sources of power, which-may used alternatively, according to my invention, to the operating "walls of the pass conditions of an oil furnace embodying the invention, I have indicated a thermostatic control over both sources of power. But this thermostatic control does not determine which source of power is used, but only contrpls whatever source is connected for operatlon according to conditions independently determined. The thermostat control might be entirely omitted from the showing of this case, but l have shown it to make the adaptation of my furnace, particularly to household use, more complete? u lVit-h the foregoing in mind, it will illustrate an embodiment of my invention more or less diagrammatically but entirely suliicient for one skilled in the art to adapt it in other specific forms for convenient use, according to the particular furnace and burner constructions available.

In the drawings: w Fig. 1 is a sectional elevational view showing a power operated oil burning furnace embodying my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view, taken similarly to Fig. 1, showing a modification in the emergency control mechanism.

Referring to these drawings, there is shown in Fig. 1 an illustrative example of one of many suitable oil burning furnaces and power operated. oil burners therefor, with which my invention'may be used. The furnace includes a the box fl, having a suitable floor B of refractory material, which floor is provided with a central opening G to admit air from the ash pit D, therebelow. The oil burner includes a centrifugal atomizer and distributor 10, to which oil and preferably air, is supplied. The atoniizer is fixed to the upper end of a vertically disposed'shaft 11, mounted in bearings 12,

carried by a frame 13. As shown, oil is supplied to the atomizer from a reservoir 1 by way of an atrial passage 15 in shaft ill, the admission of oil thereto being regulable by a needle valve 16, cooperating with the opening in the lower end of the shaft. The passage 15 is tapering and diverges upwardly so that rotation of the shaft causes the oil to he lifted from the reservoir to the atomizer by centrifugal action. ll'he oil, as

ead out into a film on the We 15, and this film becomes thinner and winner as it passes upwardly. When the oil emerges into the it is lifted, is so lOO lllli atomizer it is met by a flow of air induced thro'ugh openings 17 by fan blades 18 and is discharged through a peripheral outlet 19 in the condition of a mist or fog and mingled with the main stream of air passing upwardly through opening C.

The shaft is arranged to be driven from a normal source of ower, which ma for example, be an electric motor 20. As 5 own, the motor is directl connected to a hOI'lzontal'shaft 21 whic .by gearing, indicated in part at 22, drives shaft 11. The motor, casing 13, and reservoir 14, are all mounted on a common bed late E, which is suitably supported from t e floor by means not shown. In addition to the normal source of power, an independent source isprovided for emergency use. As shown, the independent source of power consists of a water motor 23, the rotor of which is fixed to shaft 21. Obviously, other sources of power may be substituted for the motors 20 and 23 and I have selected the illustrated motors as examples and as likely sources available and suit ble for household use.

T e electric motor 20 is provided with controllin means by which it is started and stoppe when required in normal operation. Usually, such means are responsive to the temperature of the room to be heated, and I have illustrated conventionally at 24 a room thermostat adapted, when the temperature in the room falls below a predetermined point to engage a contact 25 and close an electric circuit through a battery 26 and sole noid 27, whereby the latter is energized and functions to move a disc 28' against a pair of contacts 29. The latter are included in series in one of the line wires 30 and 31 leading from the supply of electricity to motor 20.

In addition to the normal control for motor 20, which has just been described, there is an emergency control, whereby the burner will be stopped, and with it the supply of oil to the furnace, whenever the dangerous condition arises. The particular dangerous condition which, as an illustrative example, I have chosen to guard against is the flooding of the furnace with oil. \Vhenever combustion of the oil ceases for any reason, the unconsumed oil thrown out from the atomizer 10 is collected by drain pipes 32, and delivered into a bucket 33 and as in the VVelch patent, above identified, an accumulation of such oil causes an emergency switch to be opened for the purpose of stopping mo tor 20. The emergency switch is designated 34 and is included in series with one of the wires 30 or 31leading to motor 20. As best shown in Fig. 2, the switch 34 includes a plunger 35 carrying a contact plate 36, and this plunger is normally held by a sprin 37 in position to connect two contacts 38. 1e plunger is pivotally connected to a lever 39 carryin bucket 33 and when the wei ht of oil in the latter overpowers spring 3 the contact plate 36 will be drawn downwardl away from contacts 38 to open the circuit to motor 20.

The auxiliary source of power is brought into play to operate the burner on failure of the normal source of power. In the illustrated form of the invention all that is necessary for the purpose of starting the motor 23 is to admit water thereto through its supply pipe 40. In this pipe, I provide a main controlling valve 41, which.automatically opens'when the supply of electricity fails. The valve tends to open under the influence of a spring 42, but is normally held to its seat by a lever 43 which in turn is held in place by a latch 44. Connected to latch 44 is the plunger of a solenoid 45, and a spring 46 tends to lift the latch and release lever 43 and allow valve 40 to open. To prevent this action the solenoid is included shunt with the line wires 30 and 31 so that so lon as a supply of electricityds available the so enoid is energized and valve 41 held closed, even though motor 20 be started and stopped by the thermostat control any numberof times. That is, the openin of the motor circuit by the thermostat oes not However,

oglen the circuit to solenoid 45. w en the su ply of electricity fails, the solenoid is eenergized and the valve 41 opened.

The lever 43, when released to allow opening of valve 41, engages and connects two contacts-47, which are included in an electric circuit through a battery 48 and an alarm bell 49,'whereby an alarm may be sounded to give notice of the failure of the electricity and the necessity of eventually resetting the operating mechanism for valve 40.

The mechanism for changin from one form of power to another nee not necessarily be of the form described, nor need it be of such form as to require resetting. Wherever it is desired not only to change from the normal source, but also to change back again, a mechanism, such as shown in Fig. 2, may be used. Here the valve 41 is also of the self opening type but is held closed by a solenoid 50 against the action of a spring 51. Solenoid 50 is'connected in the same manner as solenoid 45, so that if the supply of electricity fails, it will be deenergized to permit automatic opening of valve 41, but w ienever the supply of electricity is again available, solenoid 50 is energized and acts to close valve 41.

It should be noted that the mechanism for changing from the normal to the auxiliary source of power is likewise effective 11 on any failure of the motor 20, which will b ow the fuses in the line wires and thereby cut oil the supply of electricity to solenoid 45.

The motor 23 may be, and preferably is,

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controlled by the same normal controlling means employed for motor 20 so that no interruption of the automatic operation'of the burner occurs. I To this end, I provide a second valve 52, in the su ply pipe 40, which statcloses the circuit to motor 20, it also closes the battery circuit to solenoid 54, but the opening of valve 52 is not effective to start the water motor 23 unless the valve 41 is open. Also should the supply to motor23 fail at a time when it was not running, because operation of the burner was not needed, then although the valve 41 would be opened as described to render motor 23 effective to operate the burner, the latter would not be actually operated until needed and not until the thermostat 24 engages the contact 25.

The emergency device for stopping motor is also arranged to stop the water motor 23 under the same conditions. As shown in Fig. 2, ,a third valve 58 is provided in supply pipe 40 and this valve is normally open. A lever 59, pivoted to the valve casing, is connected by a link 60 to the lever 39, which carries bucket 33, whereby, on an accumulation of oil in the bucket, valve 58 will beautomatically closed so that neither source of power is thereafter effective to operate the burner until the trouble is remedied.

The normal operation of the oil burner is substantially the same as usual. The. motor 20 is started and stopped automatically by the thermostatic control according to heat requirements and may be'stopped automat ically by the emergency device on the occur? rence of a dangerous condition in the furnace. On failure of the supply for motor 20,0r on any failure. of the motor 20 which will interrupt the supply thereto, the auxiliary source of power is-automatically rendered eflective to operate the burner and will operate the same, whenever the automatic thermostat control determines the necessity for operation, and according to the dictates of such control. Should, however, the emergencyv stop device have been operated, the

water-motor cannot be started to continue a dangerous condition. The means whereby the change is made from the normal to the auxiliary source of power is likewise eifective to change back from the auxiliary to the normal source whenever the latter is again capable of bearing the burden of oper ating the furnace.

The. invention has been disclosed, in an embodiment at present'preferred, for illustrative purposes, but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What I claim is:

1. The combination with a power operated oil burner, of a normal and an independent driving means therefor, controlling means for both said driving means but normallyeffective afily to start and stop said normal driving 11 cans, and means operable on failure of said normal driving means to render the independent driving means effective to be controlled by said "controlling means whereby it is effective to operate the burner. 2. The combination with a power operated oil burner, of a normal'and an independent' driving means therefor, controlling means for both said driving means but normally effective only to start and stop said normal driving means, andmeans operable on failure of said normal driving means to render the independent driving means eflective to be controlled by said controlling means, whereby it is effective to operate the burner, and operable when the normal driving means is agaimoapable .of operatin the burner to render the independent driving means ineffective to operate the burner. 3. The combination with a power operated oil burner, of a normal and independent driving means therefor, controlling means for both said driving means but normally effective only to start and stop said normal driving means, means operable on failure of said normal driving means to render the independent driving means effective to be controlled by said controlling means, whereby it is efi'ective to operate the'burner, and means operable on flooding of the burner to render both said driving means ineffective to operate the burner.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

FRANKLIN e. NEAL. 

